Business

CVS thinks $50 is enough reward for giving up healthcare privacy By DAVID LAZARUS McClatchy Newspapers

CVS is expanding its ExtraCare rewards program to include prescription drug purchases. The new program, ExtraCare Pharmacy & Health Rewards, allows customers to earn $5 worth of store credits for every 10 prescriptions filled, up to $50 a year. Contributed

Since February, CVS Caremark has been pushing its pharmacists to enroll customers in a prescription-drug rewards program. The benefit to customers is the opportunity to earn up to $50 a year in store credits that can be used to buy shampoo, toothpaste or other products.

The benefit to CVS is persuading pharmacy customers, through questionable means, to give up federal privacy safeguards for their medical information and permitting the company to share people's drug purchases with others.

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FREEPRESS wrote on Aug 25, 2013 6:40 AM:

" It's Medicare Part D program is the pits too. It has cost us a lot more then the on-line estimator indicated for starters even though there have been no changes in meds since we enrolled. After enrolling in its plan, they were unable to give us a reliable figure for the cost of each med so we could determine whether brand name or generic was the better way to go in order to not exceed the aggregate cost limit before the "gap" and higher copays kicked in. We have since found out that one med went generic late last year, and they have yet to offer it in other then high cost, very high copay brand name. We have been over charged for some meds by the mail order service, and it took over 6 mo. to get a refund. It also misled us about which local pharmacies were in-network and were to have had no copay for generics.

When we complained to Medicare earlier this year, they said CVS/CM was no longer being allowed to issue Part D plans, and that we could change plans at that time because of the high number of complaints.

Things may or may not have improved since, so I would be very careful and investigate thoroughly before enrolling in its Part D plan if one is still available. "

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